Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - Children at a daycare in Syracuse’s Valley Section are without their jungle gym, after someone broke into the yard and stole it sometime overnight.
The daycare's owner knows the play equipment can be replaced, but she's upset someone would steal from her kids in the first place.
“The thing is over 10 feet long and 6 feet tall,” said Mary Jarvis, who runs a daycare out of her home. Until Wednesday night, it sat in her yard. It’s a $600 piece of equipment she’d only had for about a month.
Mary says whoever took it probably didn't work alone, planning the theft carefully and likely using a truck to haul it away.
“We have all this stuff for the kids and they took this from the children; that's what kills me. We have kids who are from low income families who strive to have a place for their kids to go and they took this large piece of equipment from us,” said a teary-eyed Mary.
It's not the first time Mary's daycare has been hit. Three years ago, vandals slashed six holes in her swimming pool's liner.
After the pool incident, Mary installed a security camera. It wasn't running Wednesday night, but it is now. From now on, she'll have the camera, extra lighting and extra security along the fence to keep something similar from happening again. “I don't have many problems in the Valley. I love this community but there are people who challenge people to live in areas like this,” Mary said.
For the kids’ sake, she hopes those people stop.
Mary Jarvis says she'll offer a reward for anyone who might know something about who stole the "Clubhouse Climber."
You can reach her directly by email: her address is
mjarvis9@twcny.rr.com.
